Wake planned today for Bogota woman missing for 10 years, death confirmed in 2012

By DAVE SHEINGOLD

Staff Writer
|

The Record

A wake is planned for Sunday at Petrik Funeral Home in Bogota for a borough women whose disappearance a decade ago attracted national attention and led to New Jersey legislation requiring police to accept missing-person reports.

Patricia Viola of Bogota.

The wake for Patricia Viola is scheduled for 3 p.m. to 8 p.m., followed by a funeral mass Monday at 9:30 a.m. at St. Joseph’s Church at Palisade Avenue and Fort Lee Road in Bogota.

Viola disappeared from her home in February 2001 and her whereabouts remained unknown until September of 2012, when bone fragments that had washed up in her sneaker on the ocean shoreline in Queens, NY, in 2002 were identified as hers.

The identification came after a retired Washington Township police officer, now a private investigator, helped connect Viola’s family with authorities who had lifted DNA samples from the fragments. After DNA samples were taken from Viola’s children, a match was made and the remains were identified.

The case had been featured on the “America's Most Wanted” and “Disappeared” television programs, as well the Investigation Discovery cable channel.

It led to “Patricia's Law,” which bars police from refusing to take missing-person reports and requires them to tell family members about support services. After 30 days, police must attempt to gather DNA samples.

Investigators said the cause of Viola’s death remained unknown.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the CUE Center for Missing Persons, which can be found on the Internet at www.ncmissingpersons.org.

Wake planned today for Bogota woman missing for 10 years, death confirmed in 2012

By DAVE SHEINGOLD

Staff Writer
|

The Record

A wake is planned for Sunday at Petrik Funeral Home in Bogota for a borough women whose disappearance a decade ago attracted national attention and led to New Jersey legislation requiring police to accept missing-person reports.

The wake for Patricia Viola is scheduled for 3 p.m. to 8 p.m., followed by a funeral mass Monday at 9:30 a.m. at St. Joseph’s Church at Palisade Avenue and Fort Lee Road in Bogota.

Viola disappeared from her home in February 2001 and her whereabouts remained unknown until September of 2012, when bone fragments that had washed up in her sneaker on the ocean shoreline in Queens, NY, in 2002 were identified as hers.

The identification came after a retired Washington Township police officer, now a private investigator, helped connect Viola’s family with authorities who had lifted DNA samples from the fragments. After DNA samples were taken from Viola’s children, a match was made and the remains were identified.

The case had been featured on the “America's Most Wanted” and “Disappeared” television programs, as well the Investigation Discovery cable channel.

It led to “Patricia's Law,” which bars police from refusing to take missing-person reports and requires them to tell family members about support services. After 30 days, police must attempt to gather DNA samples.

Investigators said the cause of Viola’s death remained unknown.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the CUE Center for Missing Persons, which can be found on the Internet at www.ncmissingpersons.org.